Baseball’s Greatest Players by Team: National League

I was watching a video of Ken Burns’ classic miniseries “Baseball” recently.

As the film footage of various legends flickered across my TV screen, and as guys like the Negro Leagues’ Buck O’ Neil told such fascinating stories about their time in the game, a thought came to mind as I was lying on my bed…

Wouldn’t it be interesting to compose a list of the greatest ball players of all time, according to team? Not just for how many home runs they hit or how many strikeouts they had, but also for the impact they had on their franchises, they way they put their team on the map.

So with the major league baseball season opening this week, I thought, “Why not go for it?” If nothing else, it would provide baseball fans out there with something to read, ponder, and comment on.

As there are thirty teams in MLB’s two leagues, I’ve always wanted to share my views on this, so let us begin with the National League and the team I have followed since the age of ten, the…

Dodgers

Despite the fact that this franchise has had legends such as Sandy Koufax, Duke Snider from their Brooklyn days, and even Mike Piazza from recent times, there could be only one choice here. Anyone who would disagree on this has no soul or sense of historical significance: JACK ROOSEVELT (JACKIE) ROBINSON. He didn’t do too much, merely break the color barrier on April 15, 1947, change sports and this country forever, and get his number 42 retired by every team in the majors – the first time that’s ever happened in sports.

Oh yeah, he was a .311 lifetime hitter and a terror on the base paths, too.

Giants

 Only one obvious choice here as well from the Dodgers’ longtime enemies: WILLIE MAYS. The “Say Hey” Kid, and the reason why unlike most Dodger fans, I don’t hate those rivals from San Francisco.

If I had to pick one man for the greatest all-around baseball player who ever lived, Mays would be it; 660 home runs, still forth all-time. A lifetime average of .302. An absolute speed demon on the basepaths. Master of the basket catch. Maker of probably the greatest defensive play of all time with that running catch in the 1954 World Series.

I could go on and on, but let’s move on to the…

Padres

Another clear-cut selection: TONY GWYNN. Batted .339 for his career. Eight batting titles. Elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown last year, he did more for that San Diego franchise than anyone, having been a Padre for twenty years and helping lead them to the 1984 and 1998 World Series.

Dave Winfield was pretty huge for them during their 1970s mustard and brown colored days, but he bailed for the Yankee empire at the height of his career. That’s why Gwynn is the choice here.

Diamondbacks

This franchise is barely over ten years old, but has a world championship from 2001, and one real standout that put major league baseball in Arizona on the map: LUIS GONZALEZ. He hit 54 homers that Valley of the Sun in 1998, and was in that big chase with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa for a while that year.

He also delivered the hit that beat the Yankees in Game 7 of that ‘01 Series. That puts him on this list above anything else.

Rockies

Only sixteen years in existence, this team won the pennant in 2007, and they have a bunch of good young players, BUT…

As far as putting baseball on the map in Denver, I’ll go with ANDRES GALLARAGA – The “Big Cat”. He hit .370 there one year during their early days. Dante Bichette had good years in that mile-high city too, hitting the first homer at Coors Field in 1995, and Vinny Castilla was great as well, but Gallaraga just seemed like more of a leader, the one who led Colorado to respectability.

Cubs

Despite the fact that these northsiders from the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field have not even BEEN in a World Series since 1945 – let alone having not won a Series in 101 years, these Cubbies have had some great players: Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ryne Sandberg, even Sammy Sosa.

But as far as I’m concerned, there’s really only one guy who belongs on this list: ERNIE BANKS – “Mr. Cub”.  The “Let’s Play Two!” man. A great shortstop and first baseman, he had a love for the game that shined for everyone to see for 19 years. Plus he hit 512 home runs.

Such a real shame that he never saw post season play.

Cardinals

This is not too easy a call. Lots of great St. Louis players abounded, dating back to Rogers Hornsby in the 1920s and Dizzy Dean and that Depression-era Gas House gang. The 60’s saw perhaps the meanest pitcher ever, Bob Gibson, the type who would fire a 99-mile-an-hour fastball at his mother’s head and think nothing of it.

Then there was Curt Flood, who took a stand against the owners’ slave-like reserve clause and sacrificed his career so that ballplayers could choose where they wanted to play and live.

The way I see it though, I’m going to go with “The Man” – STAN MUSIAL. Played in a span of three different decades. 3,630 hits, a National League record. Seven batting titles. Twenty straight all-star games. 475 homers. The all-time Cardinal leader in almost every category.

And he plays a pretty mean harmonica to boot.

Pirates

Like the Cubs and Cards, these Pittsburghers have also had their share of legends dating back over a century, from Honus Wagner to Willie Stargell, even Barry Bonds (before he allegedly juiced, of course).

One man stood out from all of them, however.

The greatest Latino player ever, he simply defined cool; a .317 career batting average, with 3,000 hits and a wicked throwing arm. A hero in Puerto Rico and of the 1971 World Series, he literally gave his life helping others.

That’s a fairly good description of ROBERTO CLEMENTE, don’t you think?

Reds

A tough call here; I could pick from about three or four guys, all from the 1970’s Big Red Machine.

They were a part of my childhood: Tony Perez, Joe Morgan (who’s great on ESPN now), Johnny Bench with his ten Gold Gloves and his “Baseball Bunch” TV show…but my pick for the greatest Cincinnatian is a bit controversial – PETE ROSE.

Yes, I know he was a compulsive gambler who bet on the Reds while their manager and yes, I fully acknowledge that it was an awful thing to do. But come on, now…he had more base hits, more at-bats, and played in more games than anyone who ever played the sport. Over a 24-year span he led the league in hits seven times.

Most of all, “Charlie Hustle” was one tough mother who used any means necessary to win a game, the type of dude you’d love if he was your teammate, and hate if he wasn’t. Regardless of his faults, the Cincinnati Reds would NOT have been the Reds without him.

Astros

Like the Reds, this isn’t the easiest call. Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio certainly have the best numbers and led Texas’ first franchise to the pennant in 2005, but…

I sort of prefer the Astro guys from the 1970s, who wore those rainbow Trix-style uniforms and played in the Houston Astrodome, bad as that place was.

The guy who stood out to me from that time was a 6′7″ pitcher who threw pure heat named JAMES RODNEY (J.R.) RICHARD. I used to love watching him on TV when I was a kid, with him doing that big leg kick and mowing down hitters the way he did. It was horrible the way his career ended, having a stroke in the middle of the 1980 season. I heard he was even homeless for a while. I hope he’s OK.

Brewers

This is between two men from this club’s American League days. One of them, Paul Molitor, was the definition of steady.

To me though, the greatest Brewer of all time is without a doubt ROBIN YOUNT.While Molitor left Milwaukee for Toronto and Minnesota, Yount stayed a member of the Brew Crew for 20 full seasons! He remains their all-time leader in pretty much everything.

Although Molitor also helped build those Brewers, Yount was the main architect, foreman, AND the heart and soul of that Wisconsin franchise. Having over 3,100 hits and leading them to their only World Series in 1982 supports my argument, I think.

Braves

Like the Dodgers, Giants, and Padres, there is only one painfully obvious choice here: HENRY AARON – “Hammerin’ Hank”.

He cemented his place as the classiest player in the sport’s history as he was breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record and enduring all of that nasty racist hate mail, going through pure hell during late 1973 into early 1974. His 755 dingers was the standard until Barry Bonds broke it in 2007.

And on top of all that, he had over 3,700 hits and is still the all-time runs batted in leader with 2,297.

Mets

If Darryl Strawberry had not gotten into so much trouble with drugs, alcohol, and jail, I may well have picked him as the greatest Met; he had that much promise.

As such, it was clearly TOM SEAVER who put New York City’s Dodger / Giant replacement on the map. 

A 300-game winner with a lifetime earned run average of 2.86 and over 3,600 strikeouts, his 25 wins for those Miracle Mets of 1969 after the team’s first seven years as a pathetically lovable laughing stock on the level of the Bad News Bears, gave those Metropolitans from Queens the credibility they so badly needed.

Phillies

Another obviously clear choice: MIKE SCHMIDT, the greatest third baseman in history. Period.

An eight-time home run champ and a 10-time Gold Glove winner. The all-time Philly leader in nearly everything, he led those Philadelphians to their first world championship in 1980.

And he did all of this while playing in front of fans consdidered by many as the roughest and meanest in sports, in a stadium that by the end of his career was a dump with bad turf. Those “City of Brotherly Love” people have booed Santa Claus, that should say something.

Anyone who did what Schmidt did in those conditions should be put on this list.

Nationals / Expos

Since the Nationals are only in their fifth year in our nation’s capitol, I’ll pick this franchise’s greatest player from their former home – Montreal, Quebec Province, Canada.

They were called the Expos then, and though they had their share of good players, notably Gary Carter, the guy that stands out to me, because of his leadership, is ANDRE DAWSON – “The Hawk”.

Along with Carter, he put Les Expos on the map and led them to their best days in the early 1980s. It was a real pity that he had to play in that awful-turfed monstrosity that was Le Stade Olympique, which proved once and for all that places built for Olympic track and field events and baseball did – and do not – mix.

Marlins

Like the Rockies, this club’s only sixteen years old, and with the exception of 1997 and 2003, when they won the World Series, these South Floridians have been on wobbly legs, particularly financially; it’s a good thing they have a new stadium opening in a couple of years.

Gary Sheffield could easily be considered for the greatest Marlin, as he had big numbers and led those fish to their ‘97 triumph during his days in Miami, BUT…

I’m going to go with a guy who, while solid but unspectacular, played in Miami longer than anyone and hepled set the cornerstones for that franchise. When he signed a one-day contract last year to officially retire as a Marlin, that clinch his spot on this list: JEFF CONINE.

Well, there’s my list of the National League’s greatest players, by team. I’m sure that some of these picks will not be agreed upon, but that’s OK.

Now that the Senior Circuit is covered, I will soon commence with their junior counterparts, the original home of the designated hitter and the team that has won more championships than any other in sports: the American League.